Trump’s pick for national security adviser investigated for intelligence breach
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michael T. Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for National Security Advisor, waits for an elevator at Trump Tower, Monday, Dec. 12, 2016, in New York.
WASHINGTON >> The retired Army general chosen by Donald Trump to be national security adviser was investigated for inappropriately sharing classified information with foreign military officers while he was serving as an intelligence commander in Afghanistan.
Army documents that were made public Wednesday by the Washington Post and obtained by The Associated Press concluded that while some intelligence was wrongly shared by Michael Flynn, it was “not done knowingly.”
No action was taken against Flynn, who was a major general serving as the deputy chief of staff for intelligence in the Afghanistan war when the investigation was done in 2009-2010.
The investigation, which had been classified as secret, found no evidence of misconduct or damage to national security. Instead, the commander of U.S. Central Command at the time concluded that there were efforts to “properly cleanse” the information provided to foreign officers, suggesting there was “keen attention to mission accomplishment in a coalition, combat environment.”
The documents do not detail what information Flynn shared, or with whom. But they underscore the complexities involved when dealing with classified intelligence. And they come in the wake of a heated election campaign during which Flynn and Trump blasted Democrat Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state, saying she created a national security risk.
The FBI concluded that Clinton passed on three email chains with information that had classified markings in the body of the emails; the State Department contended two of those chains held unclassified material. Clinton has argued that she didn’t understand that material marked with a “c” that passed through her personal communications system meant it was confidential.
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Flynn routinely lashed out at Clinton in public comments during the campaign, at one point saying she “should not have a security clearance,” because of her use of the private server. “She doesn’t take any accountability for herself, and she put our country at risk,” he said.
Flynn has extensive experience with classified information, including his stint as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, from 2012 to 2014.
He served as director of intelligence for the Joint Task Force in Afghanistan until July 2002, commanded the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade from June 2002 to June 2004, and was director of intelligence for Joint Special Operations Command from July 2004 to June 2007. He then served as director of intelligence at U.S. Central Command until July 2008.
The Post and others had previously reported about the investigation.
18 responses to “Trump’s pick for national security adviser investigated for intelligence breach”
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Lol. Flynn is a hypocrite. How come wikileaks couldn’t get any Hillary email?? Because it was secured and never breached. How come wikileaks couldn’t get RNC hack? They did, but they were told by Putin to target Hillary. Putin played Trump voters the fool.
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Who you callin’ FOOL? Who you sayin’ is ignorant? Who reads the fake news? Who be stoopid? Who who who…!
Trumpies will claim this is fake news.
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Actually it’s no news.
“no evidence of misconduct or damage to national security”
Thank you on “supposed” Hillary email getting in to wrong hands.
The commander of U.S. Central Command at the time concluded that there were efforts to “properly cleanse” the information provided to foreign officers, suggesting there was “keen attention to mission accomplishment in a coalition, combat environment.” Nothing done illegally. Case closed.
How do we know if nothing illegally happened, this article is from the evil lying AP and it is on the horribly biased SA newspaper that we are getting this information from, since when do we trust these Fake News outlets? The answer is obvious, when they agree with our truths and bias…#MAGA
This article is nothing but a feeble attempt to discredit or cast doubt on Gen Flynn as a result of his nomination. It’s a non story not even worth mentioning but the liberal media thinks otherwise.
The Chumps cabinet AKA The Misfits Mafia.
Let me get this straight: Clinton possibly leaks classified info, and she is cleared by the FBI; Conservatives chant “lock her up.”
Flynn possibly leaks classified info, and he is cleared by Central Command; Liberals are trying to discredit him.
So who is biased here?
He was cleared but was removed from his post and that is why he is so bitter.
Keaukaha, your comment suggests the removal from his post as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency was somehow related to the investigation of Flynn for inappropriately (not illegally) sharing of classified information with foreign military officers while he was serving as an intelligence commander in Afghanistan. It was not.
Let me give it to you straight. Clinton put our national security at risk by sending and receiving thousands of official State Department emails for four years using a private, secret and unsecured server kept in her home in New York. No evidence has been produced that any of the emails were hacked or leaked, but the threat definitely was there. Flynn, on the other hand, was investigate for inappropriately sharing cleansed classified information with foreign officers in Afghanistan who were helping us accomplish the mission of killing the enemy. “Cleansing in military jargon, means removing all information that makes is classified. There simply is no comparison between what Clinton did and what Flynn did.
The Chump had to terminate Flynn jr because of his ridiculous hallucinations. More proof that the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree just like the Chump and his inbred offsprings.
Instead of selecting eagles to soar the Chump chose egos to crash.